


Time Needs No Clock

by Darkandcrazyangel



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-27
Updated: 2014-08-09
Packaged: 2017-12-30 13:08:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1019011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkandcrazyangel/pseuds/Darkandcrazyangel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On hiatus<br/>A time master who cannot see time, a hero too weakened to save anyone, and a villain who can no longer afford his villainy. All is as it should be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: A Clock Without Time

**Author's Note:**

> This story has Danny, Vlad, and Clockwork as the main characters, so the main focus won't always be on Danny.

***Tick tick tick***

The rhythm was that of a clock, but the ticking was from water falling on paper. Danny stared at the water watching it descend to the paper each drop falling slower than the last until a drop just stopped completely midair.

“Clockwork?” Danny asked lifting his head and looking around.

“This is not my doing,” the ghost’s voice came and Danny turned to face the ghost his hand going to his neck out of habit to search for a medallion. His neck was bare and yet time was still. Finally what the ghost had said processed.

“How can it not be?” Danny asked baffled. He rocked forward to stand from his curled up position and looked at the ghost with eyes filled with confusion.

“It is yours,” the ghost answered simply.

“But I can’t do this,” Danny denied gesturing at the still motionless room he was in. The motion seemed to cause him to teeter and he found himself sitting back down on the ground again.

“Breath, Daniel. In and out,” Clockwork commanded leaning over Danny. A hand fell onto the young boy’s head and he did as he was told hoping to help his swimming vision. He felt a knot in his ghost core he had been unaware of release and the sound of dripping returned. “Sleep now, and when that power acts up again be sure to breathe and release it. You cannot,” he stressed, “afford to hold that power.” Danny nodded in understanding. He felt so tired. That power had been his, and yet it exhausted him so thoroughly. His eyes slid shut with the silence and he felt Clockwork gently lower him to the ground. He had enough time to briefly wonder what was going on before he fell asleep.

Clockwork stared at the teen feeling guilty about what he had just done. In truth Daniel could afford to use that power for short periods of time, and they would allow him to escape, but then Vladimir would be left behind and Daniel would never receive the powers he would gain from staying. Those powers would bring him so much pain and yet, if Daniel could see the future as he could he knew the boy would agree with his choice. It was unfortunate that he was forbidden to show the young halfa that future. He couldn’t even tell him that everything would be alright. Now staring into the streams of time he swore to give whatever he could to comfort the boy. Everything may have been as it should be, but that in itself was a painful thing to think about.

He disappeared back to his tower letting the flow of time wash through him with all it’s pain and joy, and yet as the Ghost of Time entered his lair the scene caught him by surprise. Tiny cracks cut across each screen and the all knowing ghost felt his mind drain of all the knowledge of times that could be. The cogs turned, their screens becoming black, and the ticking of the clocks ceased save the one that ticked away in Clockwork’s chest. With a gasp the ghost fell in shock and a shadow fell over his form causing him to turn. Before him stood himself, tattered and stained in glowing ectoplasm. He couldn’t help but take a step back into the shadowy corridor both confused and frightened. Before his eyes he saw himself dissolve into a pile of green goo as his dying form fell forward with an unnatural squelching sound. Still in shock from what had just occurred and what he had just seen, he didn’t realize that his ghostly tail had transformed into a pair of legs. Even if he had, he wouldn’t have been able to ponder it as his eyes picked up the flash of a white form in his peripheral vision. Had it been under normal circumstances, he would never have done what he did next, but given that this was far from normal he thought it wise to flee. The no longer Master of Time fled down the shadowy corridors disappearing into the swirling portal that would lead him to the human realm.


	2. The Fading Thrum

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning scientific experimentation and torture. Although I wouldn't call it graphic, there is a chance you may find it disturbing.

Danny Fenten sat in his classroom bored practically to the point of tears. He yawned and a few tears seeped out from his tired state. Scratch that he was bored to tears. Somehow he didn’t think that was what that saying was supposed to mean. He shrugged mentally and let his elbow slide a little farther out bringing his head closer to the desk. His head slipped from his hand to press into the cool surface of the desk causing his black hair to bunch up against his forehead. He held in a groan of frustration as his own hair started to make his forehead itchy causing him to lift his head back up reluctantly. Blurry blue eyes turned to the clock praying that he had conked out without knowing and it would be closer to the end of class. The clock proved no such thing had occurred stating it was the exact same time as before. He glared at it then blinked as the thin red second hand stopped for a single second before starting up again. Great the clock was broken! So he couldn’t even rely on it to tell him what time it was. He looked back to the board and went back to attempting to sleep with his eyes open. It had never worked before, but he was sure he could achieve it if he just kept trying.

“Fenten!” the teacher snapped pulling the teen back to wakefulness. He opened his eyes having not remembered closing them and realized his head hurt a little. The next thing he noticed was his view of the desk very close to his face. He lifted his head with a wince and apologized realizing he had nodded off and most likely caught the teacher’s attention by his head slamming into his desk. His forehead really did hurt, which made him wonder why he hadn’t woken up before the teacher had shouted at him. The teacher scowled at him before turning back to the board. He felt something poking at his back and reached his hand behind himself to feel a piece of paper being pressed into his palm. He brought the paper forward and read the note from Tucker.

‘Dude, what was that? Are you alright? You don’t normally nod off that bad,’ the note read. He looked forward to make sure the teacher’s back was still turned and wrote a response before handing it back.

‘I’ve been really tired lately, not too bad though. Just probably too much ghost fighting. And don’t worry, I only fell asleep because of how boring this is.’ He heard a small chuckle as Tucker read his note and made sure to keep his smirk of his face as the teacher was facing them at the moment. He turned his eyes back to the clock out of habit forgetting his earlier assessment that the clock was broken. The thing said only five minutes had passed, but that didn’t mean much to him. He struggled through the rest of the class and swore someone had added time onto that already long class when the bell finally rang. Groaning he stood up and stretched swaying a bit as the blood rushed through his body.

“So did you hear anything from Sam?” Tucker asked as his friend picked up his bag and put his text book in it. He winced as the calculator was thrown in carelessly along with the pencils. Seriously Danny was going to break that thing soon with how careless he was.

“Yeh, something about pink making her violently ill. I think her parents actually stripped her wardrobe. At least that’s what it sounded like when she was shouting over the phone this morning. I think they’re getting desperate.” Tucker winced.

“That does not sound smart, man,” he said thinking about the many painful things Sam might be doing in response to such an action from her parents. Danny yawned letting a sleepy smile form over his face.

“Maybe I should lend her the stuff she made me get.” Sam had gone on a shopping trip with him and convinced him into getting a black T-shirt, black sneakers, and black jeans. It wasn’t a bad outfit since the shirt said “I’m Ninja you can’t see me” and so of course the whole outfit had to be black. It made his girlfriend happy while it amused him greatly. Sam had joked that given his ghost power of invisibility the shirt was even more appropriate. 

He frowned missing Tucker’s response as his mind went to the most recent issue between him and Sam. He had wanted to stop going out after ghosts for a little while so he could go on proper dates with her, but she had gotten angry at the suggestion. She said he couldn’t just stop being Phantom because they were dating. He argued he never got to finish one of their dates because he always had to fly off so he thought he could leave it to his parents and Valerie for once. She argued back that he should know they wouldn’t be able to handle it. He of course dropped the argument quickly. He was taking the time off for her, and if she didn’t want it then there was no reason for him to make her upset by taking it. 

“Seriously what’s wrong, man?” Tucker asked breaking though his thoughts. His focus came back to realize that he was outside and already halfway to his house. He really needed to stop zoning off like that. Danny brought a hand to his face and groaned a little.

“I think I need more sleep then I thought I did,” he said voicing his thoughts out loud. “It’s nothing Tuck, just a stupid argument Sam and I had,” he said sighing and looking over at his friend who had stopped fiddling with his PDA in order to stare at him.

“Another one? What was it this time?” he asked in an exasperated tone. He swore those two got into way too many arguments. The whole reason for Danny’s new outfit was the last argument Danny had decided to just give in to so that it would stop. The one prior to that had lead to Danny changing his diet at lunch time. Sam would bring both her lunch and his to insure he wasn’t eating any meat, not that it changed what Danny ate at home, but Sam seemed happier for it. He wasn’t even going to think about the prior ones.

“I just wanted to take off some time from ghost fighting so we could have a proper date. Valerie isn’t incompetent, and neither is my mom. I figured a little time off wouldn’t hurt, but she got mad and called me irresponsible,” he huffed scuffing his shoe against the pavement.

“Harsh,” Tucker said wincing.

“Yeh, well I’m certainly not going to take off time now. She’s also still nagging me to get some chains. I really don’t mind her being goth, I mean she looks good in it, but I don’t want to wear that stuff all the time, and I certainly don’t want chains. The jingling annoys me,” he whined. He had other issues with the chains, but he didn’t see the need to lay out every reason. “She’s agitated about my refusal to join her campaigns and she’s mad I don’t have enough time for her, but SHE STILL WON’T LET ME TAKE TIME OFF!” he shouted at the end venting his frustrations to the sky. Tucker raised an eyebrow at the very Sam like outburst.

“So sit down and talk to her. You need to lay out all the issues. I’ve seen your arguments and I have to say you don’t argue much. You kinda clam up and say either yes or no and then leave it at that. I mean sure she won’t be happy at first but at least you’ll get somewhere.” Danny looked over at his techno-geek friend and sighed. Tucker had a point. He gave a sigh of relief as his house came into view and then let out a whine of frustration when his ghost sense went off. He was tired. He did not want to fight. A blast hit his back letting him know that the ghost was not going to wait for him to be in the mood.

“Prepare to be on my wall, whelp!” Skulker, great. He didn’t even lift himself from the ground as he transformed before he pushed off the ground flying up into the sky. He caught sight of Skulker and spun in the air hitting the cyborg with his ghost tail. The normally flame like tail became solid and hit like a whip before a fist followed up after it and sent the hunter flying.

“I’m tired. I’m cranky. You’re dead,” he growled not bothering with witty banter as he charged up his fist until it was a blinding white and crashed it through the metal of Skulker’s suit. His hand came out grasping the green blob form of the ghost and he drifted downwards before falling the last few feet as his ghost form gave out. Tucker used the thermos to suck Skulker in before the guy could wiggle away and looked at Danny impressed. He’d never seen his friend work that efficiently. He groaned as he realized the other boy was passed out and he was going to have to carry him. Then again he could get Jazz to help

“It came from over here,” a voice sounded making Tucker turn. A group of military dressed individuals came running looking between the devices in their hands and the direction they were headed. “Sir, the signal is coming from one of these two,” one of the men said holding the device up close to them.

“Um, what-?”

“You will remain silent,” the one scanning him snapped. He snatched the thermos from Tucker’s hands, “Unless answering questions posed to you. Now why are you carrying a ghost?”

“We captured it,” Tucker said.

“Sir, this one is also reading as a ghost.”

“Take him in.”

“HEY THAT’S MY FRIEND!” he shouted trying to stop them from taking Danny.

“You were warned,” the man said stabbing him with something. Tucker’s vision swam and he swayed unable to pull together enough thought process to function properly. He fell to the pavement uselessly as the group took Danny away, which is where Jazz found him when she finally got home several minutes later.

***

Danny woke up to Skulker’s angry ranting and tried to sit up and see what was going on. The feeling of metal digging into his forehead, wrists and ankles jerked him back to wakefulness. His first instinct was to phaze out which proved to be a terrible idea as electricity coursed through him causing him to scream in pain once it stopped since his lungs had been frozen during the shock.

“Oh good your awake, and apparently you really are a ghost. I was beginning to wonder,” a man said as he rolled into Danny’s view. “Now, explain why you look human unless you want to be shocked again.”

“I-I am h-human,” he said. The man’s eyes narrowed.

“These only respond to ghosts,” he said shocking Danny once more. “Try again.”

“Human, and ghost,” Danny answered knowing getting himself fried wasn’t a good idea, and that this person could probably cared less if he died.

“Really? Then you’re the one the lady wants to see personally.” The man seemed to smile at his own thoughts. “You’re very lucky. We won’t be killing you on purpose,” he said patting Danny’s shoulder. He shivered as the man left the room.

“Whelp?” Skulker asked looking at the child shaking in pain that was tied to the table.

“I’m sorry,” he said roughly. “If I hadn’t rushed our battle, I would have been able to fight them off, then neither of us would have been captured.”

“I don’t need your mopping, ghost child. I simply wish to know how you plan to free us from here.”

“I don’t kn-,” he started to say, but the rest was cut off as something was injected into him and his voice gave out with an odd numbing cold prickling through his throat.

“Much better,” came a female voice as she leaned over. “I don’t need you screaming in my ear while I do my tests,” she said grinning. Her face was blue and as well as her eyes. Her hair was a long flowing red, but she was clearly a ghost, although not one Danny knew. He tried to yell in protest as a scalpel was drawn out. “Oh that’s right I have to be gentle since you are part human. I almost forgot. Human’s are so fragile and I wouldn’t want to kill you before I could carry out my tests.” She pressed her finger to his chest and his skin muscle and bone went intangible allowing her to see into his chest cavity without doing any damage. She made an odd humming noise then grabbed a needle. “Your core looks very young. I’d say a year old at best, pretty powerful for a one year old.” She made her hand phase through to nudge his core and Skulker watched as the core flared violently and Danny’s eyes widened in unimaginable pain. Nudging a ghost’s core was the same as nudging a human’s heart. It shouldn’t be done. Danny’s already slower than normal heart rate decreased as the core flared up before it calmed down. The young halfa couldn’t stop the stream of tears. “Oh, drat. You really are fragile. Fine rest,” she snapped angrily and walked over to Skulker. The hunter backed away in a futile attempt to not be grabbed.

“If I can’t play with him then I may as well help you. Your form is pitiful,” she said shaking him like a rag doll to emphasize her point. She pulled out a needle and injected it directly into his chest where his ghost core sat. She smiled apparently satisfied with what she had done, before tossing him into a large cage with mesh to keep him from escaping. Sitting down she watched the changes that occurred with a bored expression. Skulker screamed out in pain as his small blob form got bigger gaining a more humanoid shape. What was once a blob of six inches in height was now a foot tall male looking figure. A mere ten minutes later Skulker seemed to have recovered from the painful transformation and she seemed satisfied as she stood up. “Not much, but I’ll have to wait until later. That particular concoction needs at least an hour between each use. Don’t worry I will finish fixing your form. No ghost should have to suffer looking like that,” she said in disgust.

“And what if I liked my form, woman,” Skulker snapped angrily even though he hadn’t liked his other form. She looked at him with an expression that clearly showed she didn’t believe that was the case. She shook her head with a sigh before turning around. Skulker watched her make her way back to Danny who had stopped crying even though he was still shaking. She pressed her finger to Danny’s chest to once again give her a clear view of the boy’s heart and core. A thoughtful hum escaped her as she observed his still slowly beating heart. She grabbed two needles and prepared them. The first she injected regularly into his arm before checking on his heart. Seeing his heart rate had increased she stabbed the second into his chest. He let out a soundless scream arching as much as he could before falling back to the table.

Skulker watched the child’s heart just stop. The ghost core collapsed inwards becoming small and blaringly white making the green ghost shudder in empathy. White bled to yellow before swirling to red and the core looked like a miniature sun. The core seemed to settle on this for a time before going back to white and then doing the marble effect all over again except with blue and green this time. It then faded to pure black and did not change again in the next twenty minutes she waited. She pushed her hand in and poked the core, but it didn’t move nor did it alter appearance. “Is it dead?” she wondered out loud. She waited for another ten minutes and was rewarded with a single heartbeat. She hooked up a machine to continue recording his vitals and left the room.

“Ghost child?” Skulker asked tentatively. The machine monitoring Danny’s ghost core gave off a short strange buzzing sound before falling silent. “You will not die. You must fall by my hand,” he said, but it lacked the normal bravado his voice tended to carry. The machine gave another buzz, but nothing else occurred. Somehow Danny’s ghost core was responding to Skulker’s voice, but what it meant the small ghost wasn’t sure. Everything was silent except for when Skulker thought to talk to Danny at which times the machine would buzz in small blips sounding like Morse code. After around an hour Skulker thought of a more productive way to communicate. “If you can truly understand me, ghost child, then give me two pulses for yes.” The machine complied. “Then you are unable to speak?” The machine sounded with two pulses again. “Can you move?” This time one pulse rang through the air. The ghost gave a growl of frustration. 

Skulker didn’t know how long it was before he heard a soft weak voice call out to him. He had been resting against the cage brooding when he realized the child was able to speak again. “Do you..have an idea… for how to get out?” he asked softly pausing on occasion as he struggled to use vocal cords that were still slightly numb.

“Not as of yet. How is your core doing?” he asked trying to see if they at least had some firepower to escape with.

“Numb. I think I can move my body, but I don’t feel like I’m attached to it, and the part that is my power,” he said his gaze growing completely unfocused, “So cold it burns.” He tried to charge up a small beam in his hand and was shocked for it, yet he made no response. It was as if he didn’t feel it at all. Rather than the green fire Skulker was used to a black mist seeped out of the boy’s hand and he swore he smelt rotting. He heard the child’s breathing grow harsher as the mist faded away and saw blood dripping out from the hand. “Tired.” As he said this the doors opened to reveal two large men. They released the teen from the table, but the boy could not struggle as he passed out clearly exhausted. Skulker yelled after them angrily as they left even though he knew it wouldn’t do him any good. He needed the boy to stay here and get better so that they could escape.


	3. Ticking Off and On

 

The room was cold, or maybe that was just him. Danny lay in a cell crying. It was only yesterday that he had been at school with his friends enjoying being bored. He hadn’t thought about it like that at the time, but he wished he could go back to his boredom. He also wished he could go visit Clockwork. He had managed to locate the ghost’s lair and had been visiting the time ghost. At first it was because he wanted to sort out his own mixed feelings about the ghost. He thought of him like an ally, but he wasn’t sure if the being could be considered a friend. It struck him how lonely being in that tower just watching, but not taking part in time must be. He would have laughed at the memory of what Clockwork had said on his first visit if he didn’t hurt so much.  
“You both should and should not be here,” the ghost had said smiling at him. He assumed that meant that he was destined to come, but his visit was also not something he should have done. He had opened his mouth to argue, but Clockwork cut him off. “I appreciate your concern, but you are only making your own life more difficult, not that you will stop.” The man looked thoroughly amused at Danny’s confusion. True enough Danny had not stopped visiting. He managed to distance himself slightly as his mind came to one of his fonder memories and the pain of his own body seemed to fade.  
His parents had actually been arguing for once, specifically over him. Sam and him had had a spat over his ditching her to get a little homework done and he had come into his house prepared to just moan his misery into his pillow. His mother scolded him about his grades and all the detentions he had been getting recently and his dad had actually tried to defend him. His normally clueless father seemed to look at him with concern saying he should go get some sleep. His mother retaliated refusing to let him do so stating they needed to sort this out now. Admittedly his response wasn’t the best as the argument continued. He had been tired and emotionally drained so he did one of the worst things he could have, he turned around and walked back out the door slamming it shut before turning invisible. His mother had yelled so loud first in anger, then in panic when she couldn’t find him anywhere.  
He fled to the ghost portal becoming intangible and retreated to Clockwork’s lair. Danny hadn’t waited for Clockwork’s greeting nor bothered to explain. He didn’t need to since the ghost knew all, and simply flung himself at the ghost, hugging him without a thought. Earlier he had thought back on it in embarrassment, but now he missed the comforting waves the old ghost had given off. It had been different than any other time he had been hugged like Clockwork’s mere presence was soothing both his emotions, and his powers that had been going ballistic from his stressed out state. He wanted that now. He felt like he needed it. His eyes turned to scan the room with nothing else to do and rested on water falling in one of the corners of the room onto a scrap of paper that had been left in here.  
Tick tick tick  
The rhythm was like that of a clock making it soothing to him due to his wish for Clockwork. Danny stared at the water watching it fall slower and slower with each passing second until one drop stopped completely.  
“Clockwork?” Danny questioned hopefully as he pulled his head up in an attempt to find the ghost. His attention was then pulled to behind him as the man’s voice rang out in the cell.  
“This is not my doing.” Danny twisted around ignoring the pain and brought his right hand up to his neck to meet a bare chest. His mind pulled in what had been said and his eyes widened in shock.  
“How can it not be?” He rocked forward flinching from the pain and stood with no small amount of effort letting his eyes meet the other ghost’s in a silent plea for an explanation.  
“It is yours,” came the somewhat unhelpful reply.  
“But I can’t do this,” Danny denied flailing his arm out at the stilled room. The motion was too much for his weakened body and he wavered on his feet before falling on his butt painfully.  
“Breath, Daniel. In and out.” Danny listened. If the ghost of time told you directly to do something it was important you did it. Also, he really needed the support right now, which he got with the comforting hand on his head. There was a small release of some of the strain he had previously been feeling and he fell forwards into Clockwork unable to hold himself up. “Sleep now, and when that power acts up again be sure to breathe and release it. You cannot,” he stressed, “afford to hold that power.” Danny nodded sleepily and felt his eyes close against his will. Gentle hands lowered him to the ground and sleep claimed him. It was much rougher hands that awoke him dragging him from his cell and he really wished Clockwork was still here. He tried to reach for his ghost core to transform, but blacked out for his troubles.  
He was back in the lab. That woman was standing over him again and he screamed out. There was no sound to his cries as he struggled weakly to get away. He tried to pull energy from his core but only got a black mist that made him cough as well as causing the rooms temperature to drop. The world around him froze and he felt pressure building in his core. He stopped squirming and followed Clockwork’s instructions to breath. He didn’t need to kill himself with his new power. Time started up again and he wondered if he might want to retract that statement as the woman went to work. His world blurred into nothing more than a rush of sound and color. He strained each second to keep his breathing controlled and calm. He found himself unable to move by the end and wasn’t even sure what had happened. He heard Skulker trying to talk to him and strained to use his vocal cords since his core was acting up at the moment.  
Skulker heard the nonstop crackle from the machine that had been used for communication between them before. He watched as that mist poured out and the halfa’s skin and the skin paled to translucent tones. The room frosted over and small sparks flared up cracking beakers and blowing up tools. The boy was clearly fighting, but if that glazed look in his eye was any indication then he wasn’t really conscious of his actions. Skulker had seen many animals snap to that state. They lashed out at anything and everything without any real thought behind their actions. When the group left judging that the machines could record all they needed to know, he called out hoping to pull the boy back. The frequency of explosions slowed and pale lips parted their blue tint not going unnoticed as a croak of air rasped out forming a very high pitched whistle noise that was from strained air flow rather than vocal cords.  
“Come on, Daniel,” Skulker called desperate enough to use the whelp’s name.  
“V-Vlad?” came the weak reply. Pale blue eyes swiveled trying to look for the older halfa. The man was a pain, but right now he would take even his help. As much as the man beat him up, the villain still wanted him to join him. The billionaire would surely save him. He was disappointed when he did not find or hear the man and it showed on his face.  
“No, child,” Skulker said with regret. He too knew how powerful the older man was. Without his suite he was near worthless to assisting their escape and he wasn’t betting on the child being able to do anything of use other than making the room cold like he was currently doing, impressive for his weakened state, but not very effective. Ghosts couldn’t freeze to death and it wouldn’t free them, although he might take some satisfaction in watching that woman’s guards drop dead. He shook his head focusing back on conversing in order to keep the boy sane. “I am certain he will notice your absence soon, though.” The room warmed a little and he took that as a good sign. “As much as I despise the thought of having to be retrieved,” he would never say rescued, “He will surely do so for both of us.” The room lost it’s last bit of frosty chill and he watched as the young halfa’s eyes closed letting himself sleep with the hope of a rescue, and just as he had not been conscious for his trip to the lab he was also blissfully unaware as he was dragged back to his cell. He would not have to witness the experiments done on Skulker as he rested in a large cell.  
Danny wondering how much time had passed. He could no longer be certain of the day or time given how many times he had fallen asleep. He was still alive despite not having had any water or food though so it couldn’t have been a full day, and yet with all the things he remembered he couldn’t conceive them all happening in one day. Maybe he had stopped time more times than he was aware. Either way he should be hungry and thirsty right now, but he couldn’t really feel anything. He let his mind register that fact and wasn’t sure if he should be happy the pain was gone or be worried that he literally couldn’t feel a single part of his body. He decided to just enjoy it. He couldn’t really do anything about it anyway.  
He started to try and use his core once more and was relieved to not see any black mist come out, although there might have been some. He wasn’t sure since he couldn’t move his head. He did notice that his eyesight seemed to have improved, which was odd. He heard heavy footfalls steadily increasing to an almost unbearable volume until the door opened loudly. He would have winced if he could, but still unable to feel his body he didn’t, or at least he didn’t realize he did. He was dropped onto the table where he fell at an odd angle.  
“Ma’am we found another of his kind. Shall we retrieve it for you?”  
“Of course,” she said and waved them off. “You are so unstable. I wonder how long until you cease functioning,” she muttered prodding at him. The forgiving numbness went away and he really wanted it back. “No breathing, no heartbeat, your core seems to have locked itself off,” she continued narrowing her eyes. “Perhaps the other one will help,” she said looking at him as if expecting him to respond. “Come now your core responded to him speaking. Why not me?” she asked. Realization hit him on why she was finally speaking after being silent the other two times. She simply wanted to figure out what the vibrations from his core were. Well he wasn’t going to pulse out any power for her to suit her curiosity. “I know you can release your core. Don’t think I don’t know what a defense mechanism looks like. Your core is just fine, now let me see it,” she hissed stabbing a needle into his chest and injecting something. He lost control and the entire room froze draining of color to indicate the stopped time. A hysterical laugh bubbled up from his throat as he thought of the irony. He could release his power and yet she would never know he had done so. He couldn’t get his lungs to work so he was stuck using his willpower to draw the power back in.  
As time started up again he watched her face form into a scowl when she didn’t see a response from his core. Another needle followed soon after showing her impatience and again time froze. By this point he didn’t attempt to reign the power back in and just pushed it all out. When time started again the woman stared at her readings.  
“That doesn’t make any sense. Why isn’t there any energy build up?” she cursed. She glared at the cracks that the computer showed raging over the core’s surface. There was no reason for them to be there if no power had built up. She walked over to Skulker’s cage and yanked him out stabbing the same substance into Skulker. Unlike Danny this time she saw results. There was an explosion of power blasting her backwards followed by the green man falling down to the floor. She quickly deposited him back in the cage before he could recover from the energy shock, and pressed a button. More goons entered the room. “Take him back to his cell. I want him back here as soon as the other of his kind arrives.” She turned her gaze to Skulker before stalking out of the room. He truly hoped Vlad blasted her when he got here.


	4. Not the Way I Wanted It

Vlad had been minding his own business plotting his next diabolical scheme and stroking his ego with the help of a Maddie hologram. He hadn’t attacked anyone in weeks so he hadn’t been expecting anything or anyone to come crashing through his roof. Daniel did it often enough, but it was always after something had occurred, not before. Now he wouldn’t have been too surprised if it was Daniel since perhaps something had occurred that the boy thought to blame on him, and while he certainly would have been annoyed about his ceiling he would have been a bit joyful as well seeing as Daniel thought so highly of his ability to be behind every scheme that struck the boy. Daniel was not, however, the ghost that had come through his ceiling and rather than be annoyed he was quite properly furious. He was therefore ready to blast said ghost into oblivion when a green skinned female launched herself at him. He stepped to the side and slammed a pink beam into the offender’s back. There was another crash and his wall was the thing to fall now. He growled.  
“Get out of my HOUSE!” he shouted blasting them all back out through the hole he had made. He maneuvered to the ghostly woman and grabbed her by the neck phasing through the floor. With a powerful toss the ghost slammed into a containment box, which he locked before returning upstairs. The group had predictably flooded back into his home and when he entered the room they started shooting around so many ectobeams that they were hitting each other with them. Vlad attempted to go intangible, but for some reason the beam that hit him did not phase through. As soon as one hit landed the others that were still standing quickly converged on him. Each blast that hit sent searing pain through his system, and while he could endure certain amounts of pain for impressively long periods of time, this pain was a bit more then he was used to dealing with. He was able to keep himself conscious long enough to notice his skull meeting the floor.  
He woke to cold hard floors and walls digging into him. He noted he was in some type of lab locked within a small cramped cell that wouldn’t even allow him to stand. He took in all he could about his surroundings and his gaze met the only other being’s gaze in the room. Small red eyes locked with his own.  
“I see they have captured you as well?” the being asked.  
“For now,” Vlad said certain he could get out given enough time.  
“Then you have a way out? If so you should be aware they have the ghost child as well,” the green little man said and Vlad’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully at the form of address. “You should know he is not in good condition, Sir. That witch messed around with his core in ways even I do not like remembering.” Vlad paled a bit at the thought. He was a scientist who specialized in ghosts as well as partially being one. He knew the implications this green man was implying.  
“And you are?” he asked. He didn’t want to work with someone without a name. The green man looked surprised then angry.  
“I am Skulker ghost zone’s greatest hunter,” he said as if it should be obvious. Vlad cocked an eyebrow.  
“I thought so. Your form seems to have improved beyond that previously pitiful one you had,” he said in a nonchalant way that made Skulker even angrier.  
“And I suffered for it,” he snapped. He would have raged more, but Vlad cut him off.  
“I am more concerned about what you mentioned happened to Daniel.” His tone was even now letting out the barest amounts of concern. His eyes revealed more than his voice and Skulker quieted himself. In truth he was more concerned about the boy as well. What he had gone through was nothing compared to the child. The young halfa had been practically catatonic when he had been removed from the room and brought elsewhere. Before he could explain the woman entered the room followed by two men carrying the very boy they spoke of. His skin was pale and sickly showing veins through his skin. Black hair was fully down and plastered to the front left side of his face and the lone blue eye that was visible stared out unable to focus on anything. “Daniel!” Vlad’s voice called out in unrestrained worry. The eye swiveled around the room until it finally managed to focus on Vlad and a small smile spread on his face.  
“Are you tired?” he asked confusing the older halfa. “Good,” he continued after seeing Vlad’s look. Clearly the man was not tired. He wasn’t able to say anymore as the woman stabbed a needle directly into his neck. The two men lowered him to the table and stood back awaiting further orders. Vlad watched as Danny’s chest became invisible to reveal the black core within and the nonresponsive heart.  
“What did you do to him?” Vlad snapped his anger covering up his fear. He wanted Daniel by his side in relatively one piece. Having no heartbeat was not good and he did not like the look of the boy’s core. He didn’t even know what it meant. The woman rather than answer his question pressed a button to send a massive shock through the billionaire’s body. She then opened the cage once she was sure he was in so much pain that he couldn’t move. She injected the same substance from earlier to keep the man from being able to scream before going over to her desk. Vlad attempted to move his twitching muscles, but his body would not obey him, and he was forced to watch as she retrieved a long wire that had needles on both ends. She stabbed one end into Danny’s core, and the other into Vlad’s causing both to cry out silently from the pain of having their cores invaded.  
Vlad lost all awareness of the world around him as feelings flooded him. Both physical and emotional feedback hit him and he knew he was feeling what Daniel was. There was so much pain, and a weariness that made it a struggle just to stay conscious. Sorrow and fear poured into him so strong he wanted to curl up and just die, and yet there was a small spark of determination and hope. Vlad wanted to comfort him, to tell the boy he would get them out. He wanted nothing more than to cradle the teen as he fled from this awful place, but he couldn’t do that right now, and so when he felt the gnawing cold that had settled into the boy surge through him he pushed as much warmth out of his own core as he could. The cold grew bearable, and the joy that flooded through this forced link made his attempts worth it. Then it was all gone, and he wanted to cry. His vision came into focus and he reached out desperately towards Danny.  
The man was dragged into his cage without even the smallest bit of recognition towards what he was trying to do. He watched as that foul ghost checked the boy’s core and heart once more and was relieved to see a slow, but beating heart and an oddly indigo colored core. It didn’t last though. As the minutes ticked by the color faded and the heartbeat slowed. Vlad watched them forcing himself to be patient and not rant despite the numbness in his vocal cords fading away. If he wanted to get Daniel out of here then he needed to keep a level head and conserve what energy he had left. Sadly he had used a decent amount making the child warm and he wasn’t sure he could blast the ghost with sufficient power to knock her out. He watched the woman leave with her two goons and stared at Danny wondering what he should do. Then a buzzing started up and he froze when he realized what it was.  
“Repeat, please, and slowly,” he asked softly since his voice was still having trouble. A short buzz sounded followed by a long then a short sounded. There was a pause then two short ones and a long. Another pause followed by three long buzzes and yet another pause. It finished with a long buzz short then long. Vlad was taken by surprise that Danny both knew Morse Code and was using one of the machines to talk. “I am well enough.”  
“Wait, you understand that?” Skulker asked not understanding how Vlad was making any sense of the buzzing. The ghost may have lived his existence in a mechanical armor, but he didn’t understand the archaic alphabet. Why should he when his armor could translate it for him?  
“Yes, now quiet,” he snapped irritably.   
‘I—H-A-V-E—I-D-E-A,’ he spelled out leaving extra long pauses in between words so that Vlad was clear on the spaces. ‘C-A-N—U—M-A-K-E—H-O-T-?’ he asked.  
“Yes? Why?” he asked confused and ignored the bad grammar. He received an answer when the temperature in the room plummeted. Ice formed around the lock of Vlad’s cell and the man understood. He lit up his hand with the hottest ectoenergy he could manage and focused it on the lock. He then punched the lock out satisfied as it shattered. He hurried over to Skulker’s cage seeing that the same thing was happening to it and broke the no longer blob out. Vlad hastily removed the wires and scooped him up transforming into his Plasmius form. Skulker flew out beside him as Vlad shivered slightly from the cold still seeping off of the young halfa.  
The guards that had come to greet them were blasted mercilessly. Neither ghost were taking time to think. They blasted bolts down the hallways before they even looked to see if anyone was there. It may have wasted energy a few times but they could not afford to take too many hits if they wanted to make it out. Vlad spotted the gun on the wall a second too late and turned to shoot it. The thing did not fire immediately though and he managed to blast it away with an internal sigh of relief. It did cost him the next group of people having time to actually shoot. He blasted them away with a small confusion as he swore he saw the shots freeze in midair for a second, which had given him time to dodge. The ghost that had done the experimenting on them came through the wall and this time Vlad’s eye actually caught her charging energy stop swirling for a second. Energy did not do that. The particles that made up ecto-energy were always in motion. Despite this conundrum he kept moving. He barely dodged the blast and was about to retaliate when Danny lifted his hand and blasted her with ice causing her to freeze solid. His hand dropped limply and the surrounding temperature returned to normal.  
Niether ghost stopped after making it out of the building. They flew as fast as they could in a random direction until Skulker started to drift downwards from a lack of energy. Vlad followed unwilling to leave the ghost since his help could prove vital to all of their survival. It was at this point as the man rested his back against a tree gasping for breath that he looked down on the boy in his arms.  
“Daniel?” he called gently lifting the boy’s head. He was met with silence and cold skin. The boy’s heart hadn’t been beating previously yet he had defiantly been alive, so he wasn’t sure how to tell if he still was. He pulled the teen closer to his chest and felt the cold core pulse weakly. With their chests resting against each other he followed his gut feeling and tried to replicate what the needles had caused. It wasn’t as intense as before, but the world around him seemed to dull becoming distant as if he were underwater. Daniel was like a void. Vlad could tell he was alive, but just barely. He pulled his own power up and pushed it into the young half ghost’s core trying to bring him back. There was a surge of warmth directly followed by cold and he experienced the rush of air flooding Danny’s system as the boy gasped taking in air that he hadn’t been able to breath before. Vlad became more aware of the outside world feeling the boy cough and gasp in his arms. Small whimpering noises of pain escaped and the older man was left with a shivering mass that slumped down and cried against his chest.  
Had it been any other day under other more normal circumstances, he would have gloated over his victory of Daniel relying on him like this, but his own core still shook with the memory of Daniel’s pain. Even now although Danny was feeling better, there was still a burning feeling eating away at them both and he just wanted to make it stop. He wanted to…His thoughts went no further and his hand slipped down from Danny’s back to fall to the floor. Both halfa’s were out cold leaving Skulker as the lookout. He watched the two pulsate weakly understanding what Vlad had done for the child even if the man didn’t know himself.   
At the moment Vlad’s core was supporting Danny’s. Danny who was too weak to support himself was drawing power from Vlad in order to stay alive while his own core recuperated. It was the type of thing done between parent ghosts and their children while the ghostly child’s core was developing. He wasn’t sure how Vlad had figured the process out, but he couldn’t help but be glad. The ghost child dying from what that woman had done and in such a way would have been unforgivable. He didn’t know what happened when a ghost’s core was completely eradicated. He figured they ceased existing rather than passing on like other ghosts did when they were destroyed. He wished that fate on nothing. It was too cruel.


	5. When Wrong Makes It Right

Skulker prepared himself to fight as best as he could when he saw the swirling vortex appear in the sky. He shouted to wake up Vlad and consequentially Danny as well. Vlad tensed ready for battle as one arm tightened around the boy in his arms and the other powered up ready to shoot. Both stared in confusion as the ghost exiting the portal fell down failing to fly. The staff the ghost had been holding flew from his grasp and smashed into a tree before clattering to the ground.  
“Clockwork?” Danny asked from his position in Vlad’s arms. The other two froze as the ghost lifted himself from the ground his purple hood falling back to reveal long black hair. Despite having never seen the ghost with his hood down Skulker recognized the ghost of time with both shock and fear. This was a ghost every other ghost knew of, but should never see outside of his tower.  
“Somewhat, Daniel,” Clockwork answered. Vlad stared confused for only a short time before demanding answers.  
“Sir, you do not want to insult the Master of Time,” Skulker warned looking over nervously at the blue skinned ghost who wasn’t shifting forms like he normally did. Clockwork shook his head.  
“At this point I am no such thing. I do not know what has transpired, but my vision of all possible futures and presents are no long with me. Also the past pertaining to the last five minutes I believe,” he said frowning as he looked at one of his many watches and found that none of them worked. In fact they were slowly dissipating into golden mist before disappearing completely.  
“How can that be possible?” Skulker shouted in alarm. “You see all of time! There is no way you could not have foreseen this.” The hunter looked ready to blow a blood vessel if he had had one.  
“Then perhaps I did, and knew it had to happen,” he said shrugging. He turned his red gaze towards Danny with a deep frown. “All I know is I finished talking with you and returned to all of my view screens cracked and dark. When I turned I saw myself bleeding before evaporating into a puddle of ectoplasm. When I thought I caught sight of someone there I fled. I do not desire to be destroyed and if that other me was myself then I surely was not meant to be destroyed at that point. I must have at least set up the portal I took ahead of time since it was perfectly placed for my escape and lead me here to you.” Danny chuckled unable to help himself. Seeing the time ghost without infinite knowledge pondering about himself being manipulated by himself from when he had said knowledge made his head spin, but also made him joyous. The ghost was not above using himself apparently and he had come to him. Vlad was not so joyous, but he also wasn’t going to push away one of Danny’s allies. The boy was still weak and if he was honest so was he. In fact he was having trouble recharging given Danny still leaching off of his energy. The boy reached out towards the ghost and Vlad felt a spike of fear as Danny’s core retreated from his own. He could feel it the boy was still too weak.  
“Daniel, stop,” he chastised trying to pull him back.  
“It’s ok. Clockwork is able to make that warm thrum you are producing too. He calmed me down last time,” Danny assured. He knew he got cold and more achy after Vlad had let him go before so he made the connection that the comfort he felt was helping him in some way. He didn’t know how it worked, but he did recognize that this was exactly what Clockwork had done the day he had hugged the ghost.  
“YOU DID WHAT!?” Skulker screeched now truly lost. “Are you insane? You are the Master of Time. Why would you Soul Support anyone?”  
“Excuse me, but I demand an explanation,” Vlad snapped tired of not understanding what was being discussed.  
“What you are currently doing is called Soul Support, and what it is typically for is supporting newborn ghosts. Ghosts that are born as ghosts start out with a very unstable core since they are formed from combining the energies o their ghostly parents. They cannot solidify into their own individual self until the two energies have had time to merge fully. In this case however Daniel’s core has been so disrupted that it is on the verge of breaking down. He needs to rest to recover energy, but he needs energy to keep his core from dissipating as well as to repair it. He cannot do all three so he is relying on your energy to assist in the repair of his core. The drawback of course is that he is taking energy from you as quickly as you can produce it. As to why I did so earlier, I do not know, but seeing as I am not currently the Master of Time and have plenty of energy to spare I believe it would be wiser if you let me take him for a time while you recover your energy. I am not after all a fighter, and I do not know what has become of my power to stop time.” He looked over to where his staff had fallen and sighed as he realized it was gone.  
“Wait. Doesn’t that mean he’s merging with my energy?” Vlad asked looking down at Danny in disbelief. Clockwork nodded. That would mean he was in a sense Daniel’s father, and since Clockwork had apparently already done the same so was he. He shuddered at the unwanted images that brought to him. Perhaps it was better not to equate this with being the boy’s father besides Daniel already had a core of his own. It wasn’t the same. Clockwork eased the child carefully into his arms and out of Vlad’s currently weak ones. In truth he could barely hold the boy up so he couldn’t really stop this ghost from taking him. He could blast Clockwork, but he was close to certain he would pass out.   
“Does that make you both my ghost parents?” he asked crinkling up his nose at the thought and stating out loud what Vlad had desired to leave alone. His response was an adamant no from Vlad and a calm yes from Clockwork. Clockwork turned to Vlad with a cocked eyebrow.  
“He is assimilating our energy into his core. Are you saying you do not feel the pull towards him?” he asked.  
“Whether or not I desire to protect Daniel is irrelevant,” he protested scowling.  
“Sir, I’m afraid even that annoying Walker would recognize you as his parent now. I do not understand why after all this time of you telling me to obtain him to be your son you would refuse this,” Skulker said matter-of-factly. Danny looked on at Vlad wondering the same thing when he saw the small blush on Vlad’s cheeks and something clicked in his head.  
“Just because both you and Clockwork helped me doesn’t mean you have to be a couple.” Skulker looked like he had been slapped in the face at the realization while Vlad got even redder.  
“I know that,” he snapped.  
“Ah actually, Sir,” Skulker started to say.  
“You shut up,” Vlad ground out his eyes glowing red in a threatening manner. Clockwork shook his head and Skulker wisely said no more. Vlad would figure out the implications of his actions later. He did not wish to get blasted for telling the man things he did not wish to hear. Vlad changed into his ghost form and flew up into the air to try and figure out where they were and how to get back to either his castle or Amnity Park. Now that they were alone Danny looked over at Skulker with a slightly disturbed look on his face.  
“What did you mean when you said actually?” he asked hoping the answer wasn’t something seriously disturbing. Skulker sighed.  
“In the same way the law recognizes you as being their offspring it also recognizes both parents to be a couple. This type of situation has never happened before so you can see why they law would dictate that. After all you would not make a child with someone you did not plan on being intimate with.” Danny looked seriously ready to barf.  
“So it’s just the law, right?” he asked practically pleading for the hunter to confirm what he said.  
“Mostly. There is usually one final step in solidifying a ghost child’s core. I am unsure if you will require it, but if you do…” he tapered off not sure if he should continue.  
“It means I will have to hold you on one side while he does so from the other. A group hug if you will, but much more then that since when it is done we both feel what you feel and since you feel both of us we in exchange will feel each other through this link.” Danny tried to grasp the concept. It didn’t seem too bad. Sure Vlad probably didn’t want to feel Clockwork’s emotions and energy fluctuations, but it wasn’t anything too extreme. Still he could see how it would be a bit awkward.   
“That doesn’t sound too bad, although it’s still weird to think about your essences merging with my core.” He would have said more but Vlad returned and plopped himself down on the ground transforming back. Now that Danny wasn’t being cradled by the man he could see how exhausted the other truly was. He realized that he hadn’t once during this whole time felt like either Skulker or Vlad were threats. These events seemed to have garnered some level of attachment. Skulker was actually worried about Danny’s health. He knew the hunter and unlike Vlad, if the green man showed any form of caring it was genuine, other than on Christmas, then he had proclaimed he was only being nice due to the truce. Danny knew Vlad cared for him in a twisted way, but the older halfa had been actually frightened for him and the only reason the man was so tired was because he had been caring for him. He couldn’t help but be grateful even if Vlad was still twisted, the man cared. He wasn’t just some tool.  
“Thank you,” Danny said sincerely looking up at Vlad. Shocked eyes met his, and he gave a small chuckle. “Skulker said you would come save me. The fact that you did means a lot to me.” He pushed down any witty comments he had about the other man’s less than good sides. He didn’t want to create turmoil, and a part of him no longer wanted to hurt the other. This man had reached out to him when there was so much cold, and pain and Vlad could have left him like that, yet he had exhausted a lot of power to warm him. His eyes were sliding closed at the memory. He could still see Vlad stretching towards him in desperation. No, he would never fully hate this man again. A soft scoff could be heard and his eyes crept back open as a hand fell on his head.  
“I’ve told you many times how important you are to me, Daniel. I would never let you die, and any fool that attempts to seriously damage you will find themselves in as many pieces as I can tear them,” he growled. Danny just laughed at that. The response was so protective and yet so violent. He knew Vlad wasn’t saying those words lightly. Vlad fully intended to rip apart that ghost, and yet despite how wrong it was Danny couldn’t care, he was too afraid of that ghost. His laugh turned to tears as he pressed himself further into Clockwork’s chest.  
“I never want to go back. It hurts. It’s wrong. I’m sorry.” A full wave of comfort washed over him from Clockwork. Vlad was baffled once again as Danny’s thought process was lost on him.  
“Why would you be sorry?” He looked at the boy whose emotions had just made a drastic turn. Just as quickly as the boy had turned to tears, he quieted.  
“I didn’t care. You said you would rip her apart and all I feel is relief,” he muttered. Vlad looked ready to protest at the stupidity of that statement and Skulker was thinking along the same lines. The child had been tortured. Of course he couldn’t help but feel relieved. They would both think he was completely insane if he defended her.  
“Which is a normal emotional response,” Clockwork assured. The other two agreed. “I am aware of what you are thinking about and you need not worry, Daniel.”  
“You can’t see the future right now,” he denied. “What if you’re wrong?”  
“Do you believe that when I could see all of time that I would let this come about? That I would let myself come to a situation where I would give you advice that would lead you in the wrong direction?” he asked confidently.   
“Only you could say something like that,” he grumbled. “You’re so certain you saw this,” he said and then stopped and pulled away. He had felt a pulse of worry. “You aren’t?” he asked and his emotions started to build once more. Vlad was ready to snatch him to stop the panic, but Clockwork pulled him back wrapping his aura around Danny’s core once more.  
“Of course I cannot be completely certain in my current state. What I am certain of though, is that you should not pull away again. Your core is not stable enough, and your emotions,” he paused and shook his head. “I do not wish to be frozen.”  
“Can I freeze you?”  
“Ice, Daniel, not your little time spurts. I am still immune to those.”  
“Time spurts. Was he actually freezing time?” Vlad asked remembering the earlier instances.  
“Yes, though he is only able to slow down and stop time for very limited stretches. He cannot rewind, go forward, or speed up time, and I do not believe he has the gift of sight. He will gain powers from you that he does not yet posses, though not all of your powers of course. Daniel, I do wish to warn you. Your ghost form will change from our energy.” There was a hesitant nod to this statement. He was worried what his ghost form would end up looking like. Just then his stomach gave a vicious growl disrupting the conversation. Vlad tried to push himself up, but fell back down before looking over at Skulker.  
“Do you think you can manage hunting us some food?” he asked. If the ghost had his suit he would simply order him to do it, but he knew how pitiful the hunter was without his suit. Skulker seemed to puff up his chest in pride.  
“Some measly forest creatures stand no chance against ghost zones greatest hunter,” he proclaimed and flew off happy to do what he did best. Vlad let himself relax unwillingly starting to fall asleep due to his exhaustion. He was still worried about finding his way back to his mansion. Perhaps once he got more energy he could try teleporting. If any place he knew was within range he would be able to take them there although the backlash he would get from trying out each of those places and failing was going to hurt so hopefully they were within range of his mansion or Amity Park since he didn’t want to try it more than twice. Of course he could always fly ahead invisibly and check out what signs in the area said. Yes that was a better idea. With that thought sleep fully claimed him and he missed the large deer that Skulker carried back for the group.


	6. Healing

Danny was in much better shape by the time Vlad woke up. For one he was free of Clockwork’s hold and didn’t look like he was going to drop anytime soon. The other thing was that he was actually in his ghost form flying around and weaving through branches overhead. He wasn’t going very fast, but just seeing the boy flying and exerting a glow made him feel better, although now that he looked at it the glow was not the boy’s typical white, nor the ice blue it settled on when Danny called up his ice powers. Instead the light was turquoise. The light added an interesting sheen effect on the boys white hair and skin, which Vlad noted was another change. As the boy landed due to noticing Vlad’s now conscious state, Vlad amended his observations. The boy’s hair was white, but his skin was actually a pale blue that he had passed off as being caused by the new aura.  
“You’re awake, Fruitloop,” he said smiling like a small boy on a sugar high. There was none of the typical taunting behind the nickname though it still caused his eye to twitch in annoyance at the form of address.  
“Highly astute of you, Daniel,” he drawled out meeting the boy’s gaze. He blinked and realized the eyes that met him were neither blue, nor green, but both. His eyes were blue darker near the pupils and edges of his irises. At the top there was an arc of pale blue that faded into the main blue. The bottom did the same, but with acid green that darkened to a deep green at the edges of the iris. The overall effect was both eerie and beautiful.  
“Vlad?” he asked confused at what the man was staring at. Danny landed on the ground and transformed back, but his eyes stayed the same. “What is it?” Vlad shook his head.  
“You’re eyes, little badger. I do not believe hiding your ghost side will be possible now.” He stood up as Danny furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.  
“Are they permanently glowing green?” he asked.  
“And blue yes. You can admire it later,” he said. “Did either of you figure out where we are?” He asked turning to the two other ghosts.  
“There are several signs saying Minnesota as well as a few that say Wisconsin when I headed east. We are on the border, but I am unsure what part of the border,” Skulker answered. He did know enough about geography to identify where states were, but that didn’t mean he knew all their cities.   
“I spotted signs for Iowa when I did my search. I believe we are precisely at the border of all three,” Clockwork added.  
“Good,” Vlad said transforming and floating upwards. “Then we should head southwest. My mansion will be closest.” There were no arguments as the ghosts rose upwards. Danny changed into Phantom and followed the older halfa trusting the man to be able to locate his own mansion. They weren’t even flying for a minute before Vlad turned around and pulled Danny into his arms. The boy although able to fly was slow and his aura was giving off random light purple sparks every time he faltered slightly in the air. Danny would have protested, but the threat of falling to his death while trying to fly under his own power wasn’t an appealing one. He decided to take a nap instead since he was still feeling really sore and generally in pain. Due to his dozing he wasn’t sure the exact amount of time that had passed before Vlad spoke again, and he didn’t really care. “I know where we are now. Everyone grab on to me. I can teleport us back.” These words sent a flood of relief through him, but this relief died when a sharp pressure pushed at his core. He felt like his lungs were being squeezed and he sputtered as soon as he was able to. His immediate reaction to the pain was to seek a source of comfort and stability.  
Vlad teetered as he felt Daniel’s core latch onto his. His teleportation had somehow upset Danny’s already weak ghost core as was indicated by the gasping raspy breath that Danny had taken right after they appeared. He felt horrible now for using that power, and he was paying for it. His depleted energy reserves instantly complied to Danny’s core’s call for energy and stability. What little energy he had left was pushed towards the young halfa, but not without consequence. He teetered transforming back without any will of his own and would have sunken to the floor had Clockwork not steadied him. Skulker came up from below and with a surprising show of strength for his small form caught Danny who was falling from his weakened arms. The green ghost flew the child over to the couch and placed him down while Clockwork did the same for Vlad.  
“I am aware you are most likely against this, but I think it necessary for Daniel’s recovery,” Clockwork started looking at the exhausted billionaire. “His core may heal fully given time without Soul Stabilization, but it is time I am not certain we have.” Vlad looked at the ghost not fully understanding since he hadn’t been there for the conversation Danny had had with the ghosts earlier.  
“What are you implying?” he asked rather than outright admit he had no idea what the difference between Souls Support and Soul Stabilization was.  
“You and I will have to recover our energy and Daniel will have to refrain from doing anything strenuous to his core. You and I must support his core at the same time. The steps after that are difficult to explain, but you will feel my energy doing what yours needs to also do. If you follow my lead he will be completely recovered within an hour of the process.” Vlad cringed at the thought, but nodded none the less.   
“How much of my energy do I need? I believe I can fully recover within three days.” Clockwork smirked at the statement finding something amusing though Vlad wasn’t sure what.  
“I would say recover all of your energy to be on the safe side. Daniel’s own core is quite powerful. It will try to draw in power equal to what it has lost and then we will need enough left over to complete The Weave.” Vlad could hear the capital letters, but he was too tired to ask just what Clockwork meant by “The Weave” and besides the ghost had already said that “the steps were difficult to explain” so this was most likely included in that. He would simply wait to find out. He nodded his head and despite his sleeping earlier, he drifted off into deep slumber.  
Clockwork sat contemplating the situation he was in. he had never been in a situation like this, and even though he was still frightened of being without his powers of sight he found that he was enjoying himself. He liked being here actually doing something. For a long time all he had ever done was watch. People lived their lives and ghosts traveled the Ghost Zone living their afterlives. He would admit that he enjoyed watching all of time. It was his obsession, the thing he was made to do so there was no way he wouldn’t enjoy it, and yet just because he enjoyed it with all his being didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy other things. Sitting here with Vladimier, Daniel and Skulker was a breath of fresh air.  
He had been craving this ever since Daniel had set foot into his realm. It was one thing to see all of time and another thing entirely to experience it. He had always known Daniel would come, and he had known the boy would come to him during that time when his parents had scolded him, but knowing one would be hugged, and seeing yourself being hugged was still so much different then feeling it. The images that played across his mind in the same manner as a recording playing on a television suddenly gained life. The warmth he had felt had moved him. When Daniel looked so stressed and sad he hadn’t been thinking. He may have known the course of action he had been about to take, but he wasn’t thinking about following the images in his head. His heart, his core, had reach out on its own because he wanted to comfort the boy. He wanted to comfort him and never let him go. It was selfish and most certainly not something the Observers would approve of. As the Master of Time he was forbidden to Soul Stabilize any ghost, and he was forbidden to form his own child. In other words they didn’t want the Master of Time to be a parent, because that child would be beyond the reach and vision of the Observers. That thought caused a mischievous smirk to settle on his face. He wasn’t currently the Master of Time, now was he?   
His hand moved to Danny’s head and stroked the boy’s hair. Danny was still awake and had heard everything, but was apparently still too dazed from the earlier shock to his core to do anything. The boy’s gaze was staring out at the room unfocused. Consciously or not Danny scooted closer to Clockwork. Skulker had apparently left the room while Clockwork was trapped in his thoughts. He had to wonder what the hunter was planning on doing although he wasn’t too worried. Now that they were free perhaps the ghost was returning to the ghost zone. He would have to keep himself alert in case some unwanted people came after them.  
“Clockwork, what happened to you?” Danny asked softly unwilling to shatter the silence. The boy stared up at him will weary eyes that gazed into Clockwork’s own with faint confusion.  
“You mean my current form?” he asked assuming that to be the only thing Danny could possibly be asking about. There was a small noise of confirmation. “After leaving your cell I returned to find my tower severely damaged. My ability to perceive the future left me at that point. When I turned around I saw myself heavily wounded. I admit I was quite frightened. The shock of losing my ability to see made me a bit less rational than I would have liked. My other self fell and dissolved into a green puddle.”  
“Green goo?” Danny asked to clarify as he lifted his head. The description was something that sounded familiar. “Like the clones?” he asked wondering if the connection he had made as the right one. Clockwork looked slightly shocked at the statement before smiling deviously.  
“Yes, exactly like a clone. In fact I believe you are onto something. Ghosts dissipate or fade in death and pass on. I can’t say I know why a clone would be there, but I caught sight of someone. That is the main reason I fled. I believed that person would attack me at the time. Perhaps the clone insured that they did not.” At this point Clockwork looked thoughtful. His staff was gone so he couldn’t just open a portal and send a clone through and he didn’t like the idea of making a clone just to send it to its death. It was an issue he would have to deal with later. Danny was ahead of him though, which was an amazing thing given that even without future sight Clockwork still had all the knowledge of the past cluttering up his head. Perhaps he relied on his seeing ability a little too much.  
“If that’s true then we should have Vlad help us make one, although instead of a clone we can use a N.E.W.S. Mom and dad made a few ghosts that weren’t really ghosts. They’re nonsentiant ectoplasm with shape. Kind of a silly acronym I know, but Jazz and I got tired of saying the full description.”  
“Perfect,” Clockwork said happily. That solved that issue. He leaned back and focused his attention inward on his ability to stop time, before feeling for the same thrum within Danny. He felt the power sputtering. The power was new so it wanted to be used and therefore acted up, but Danny couldn’t afford to use the energy right now. “I want you to try and fall back asleep. I need to do something and it may hurt. I’d rather you not be awake for it just in case.” Danny looked up in question. “Your power is unstable. I need to seal it for now.”  
“Just go ahead. I’m not going to be able to fall asleep since I’m not tired. I doubt I’ll feel it over the pain,” he said giving a smile that was supposed to be reassuring. Clockwork was not comforted in the least and he knew Danny was lying. The child was exhausted, but he wasn’t going to argue. The old ghost reached down a hand and spread his fingers over Danny’s core letting a bit of his time power leak out. Danny’s own power rushed towards it causing Danny to wince. The boy’s own power swelled painfully becoming more compact and ready to burst outwards. Clockwork responded by wrapping his own energy firmly around the misbehaving core. The power exerted itself as the more powerful energy which caused the core to settle down as if it were a properly chastised unruly child. It swirled around within its new containment as if brooding as it fluctuated between hot and cold. Despite this the pain left, leaving behind an uncomfortable feeling much like a knotted muscle. Clockwork didn’t stop there though, the ghost’s hand moved to Danny’s head and then the discomfort just stopped. The relief was immediate and the young halfa wrapped his arms around the time ghost in thanks. His eyes seemed to droop now that he was free of his previous torment, but he didn’t want to go to sleep having claimed earlier that he wasn’t tired. It was a silly reason really, but Danny did not wish to concede.  
“Are you certain you are not tired, Daniel?” Clockwork asked with a gentle caress above Danny’s core after seeing that Danny was being stubborn about getting the rest he needed. Waves of comfort seemed to wrap around Danny lulling him towards unconsciousness.  
“What,” he tried to ask only to be cut off by his own yawn. Clockwork fully rested his hand over Danny’s chest and another calming wave brushed over his core. Had Danny not been so tired he would have cursed the elder ghost. He could swear he heard the sound of several softly ticking clocks as he gave one last effort to open his eyes that were feeling much too heavy. He lost and succumbed to sleep. When he awoke it was to the smell of food. His stomach growled loudly and he let out a small groan letting everyone know he was awake despite his closed eyes. He knew he must have been asleep for quite awhile and yet his eyes still felt too heavy to open. He made frustrated noises as he attempted to shift and open them. Failing to do either he tried to reach out with his core only to hit the wall of Clockwork’s energy and hear the soothing noise of ticking clocks once more. No! He did not want sleep. He wanted food! His thoughts were cranky from his current predicament and he settled for making more disgruntled noises since his vocal cords seemed to be the only thing willing to work for him. There was a slight airy laugh that he identified as Vlad’s before the smell of food got stronger.   
The steam wafting off the plate of food somehow managed to allow him to crack his eyes open slightly and he stared down at the food as his stomach gave another growl. Again he tried to move his arms, but this time he got a short burst of the previous pain he had felt which made him take a sharp intake of breath and stop his attempt. Why did his body hurt so much if he moved? Hadn’t Clockwork fixed that?  
“Don’t worry about moving Daniel. The patch I did isn’t perfect,” Clockwork said and there was a spoon at his mouth. This was stupidly embarrassing. He could eat on his own. He tried to move again gritting his teeth at the pain.  
“Stubborn child stay still,” Vlad hissed noticing his pain from doing so and placed his hands on the teen’s arms to hold them down. Danny’s mouth opened to retort, but Vlad snatched the spoon from Clockwork and shoved the food in Danny’s mouth turning over the spoon to have it drop on the boy’s tongue. Danny swallowed reflexively.  
“Hey,” he hissed out angrily. “I can eat on my,” he started only to be cut off again by another spoonful.  
“I’m not tolerating any of this nonsense right now, Daniel. You are injured and I’ve been informed moving makes your pain from earlier come back so long as you are in your human form. I felt your earlier pain and I do not want you in that condition again after the work I’ve put into making you better, so be silent and let us take care of you.” Danny’s mouth snapped shut angrily. He did not enjoy being weak and helpless. There was a clink as Vlad put the spoon back on the plate. “Fine, since you don’t want me doing it I’ll call your parents.” He stood up ready to do just that. Sometimes there were things only mothers could get their children to do and Vlad had the utmost confidence in Maddie. He also had confidence in Jack’s ability to annoy and hopefully make Danny regret his decision to be stubborn. Despite this he couldn’t help the small twinge of sorrow. After all this he had hoped that Daniel would let him help and trust him.  
“Wait.” The call made him stop immediately. “I do want to see them, but I don’t want them to see me like this.” His eyes were more open then they had been previously and his gaze bore holes into Vlad’s back. “Please, I don’t want to worry them,” he begged.  
“It’s far too late for that,” Vlad said going back to the boy’s side. He sat down and looked into the multicolored orbs that were giving off a faint glow despite his human appearance. He could see the confusion spring forth at his statement and was quick to answer. “You have been gone for five days. I checked after I woke up and while you were still sleeping. You had already been missing for three days before I was taken and,” it was his turn to be cut off.  
“But that’s not possible. They didn’t give me any food or water or anything,” Danny said a little frightened. Vlad shook his head.  
“I don’t understand that anymore than you do, but all I know is you weren’t breathing when I got there. You had no heartbeat and somehow you were still alive. That is highly likely connected, but I’m not going to look into it. I’m just glad you are alive, so please do me a favor and help me keep you that way.” Danny caved. He nodded and finally gave in to being spoon fed all the while Clockwork stayed silent watching the interaction with a small smile. As soon as Danny finished eating he was brought to the bathroom. His face flushed a deep scarlet once he was done with the toilet and he decided being spoon fed was not that embarrassing at all. He hoped that bathroom experience was something he never had to repeat and cursed having eaten the deer Skulker had brought back as well as the apparent ten hours that he had been asleep that made him need to go. The real frustration came from the fact that after he was done he still felt like he needed more sleep. It was ridiculous as far as he was concerned, but he was assured that it was normal considering what he had been through. Once Vlad was certain that Danny was asleep again he went to call Maddie. She deserved know her child was safe although he wasn’t looking forward to revealing Danny’s secret, but it was necessary now. Clockwork hovered next to him during the phone call.  
“You need to tell them about you as well,” the ghost’s voice broke in leading to questions on the other line as to who was talking. “He needs both of our support and they won’t be able to understand without knowing what you are.”  
“I can handle this fine on my own,” Vlad hissed covering the mouthpiece.  
“So that the situation is comfortable for you alone,” Clockwork agreed in a calm voice. Vlad winced and looked at Danny who was cradled in Clockwork’s arms and thought over his options.  
“Maddie, there are some very important things we need to discuss, but perhaps this is better done in person.” He winced at what he was about to say. “Daniel is,” he paused, “He is unstable and he needs support. Right now two ghosts are doing their best to do so.” He listened to her response to that. She seemed totally uncaring that two ghosts were helping her son and more concerned that her son was injured. He always knew Maddie was wonderful. “I assure you he is going to be fine, but these two ghosts must keep in contact with him while he’s healing. One of them is that voice you heard and the other,” again he took a breath, “is me.” The phone filled with sound. She wanted an explanation. “As I said I think its better I explain in person. Could you open your ghost portal and wait in your lab. We will be right there.” With that he hung up taking a deep breath. “Happy,” he snapped at Clockwork. The ghost shook his head.  
“I’ll be happy once Daniel is better,” he responded so as not to infuriate the older halfa further. Vlad gave no response to that since he felt the same. With that the two headed into the Ghost Zone.


End file.
